The Solana blockchain network has recently topped charts for being the most popularly used blockchain in the world, particularly for the resurgent interest in memecoin trading. However, recent data from Dune Analytics revealed that a staggering 70% of non-voting transactions on the network have failed since mid-March, casting a shadow over the platform's reliability and performance.

At the heart of this situation is a key distinction between non-voting and voting transactions on Solana. The non-voting kind make up the bulk of regular user activity - sending tokens, interacting with smart contracts, and such. Voting transactions, on the other hand, are the domain of validators - those elite nodes that stake Solana to secure the network and process transactions, earning a cut of fees in return.

The high failure rate is explained by Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs, a major Solana infrastructure provider: "The failed transactions are mostly always bots," he said in a chat with DL News. "This has always been how Solana has worked since day one, so there's no difference in user experience," he stated matter-of-factly.

For organic users, those who engage with the network manually rather than through automated means, the root cause of failed transactions can be traced to a concept known as slippage. Slippage occurs when the value of a trade fluctuates between the execution of the order and the receipt of the tokens, a scenario particularly prevalent when trading low-liquidity memecoins.

To mitigate the potential losses arising from slippage, traders often increase their slippage limits, accommodating price swings that may occur during the finalization of their trades on the blockchain. However, in instances where the price swing exceeds the specified slippage limit, transaction failure becomes the inevitable outcome.

Mr. Mumtaz argued that portraying Solana's high failure rate as a problematic issue is a misrepresentation of the underlying mechanics. "A failed transaction means that the network processed the transaction successfully – it paid fees, made state changes, and went through the same pipelines – but the app developer specifically made it 'revert' on purpose," he explained.

Offering a potential solution, Mr. Mumtaz suggested, "You just want to make it so that spamming the chain isn't as viable economically and also you want to incentivize block packers to include more successful transactions so they can maximize their revenue."

Despite the transaction failures, the Solana ecosystem continues to thrive, with user volume surpassing that of the Ethereum network last week. Solana’s activity is fueled by the launch of an estimated 20,000 tokens on the blockchain daily, according to Solana explorer SolanaFM. Crypto bridge protocol deBridge recently crossed the $1 billion mark in user volume, with over half of that figure traded through Solana.